Subaru and Minerva walked across the schoolyard toward the football field, where complete chaos had somehow become an organized sport.
The ball flew overhead.
Aqua was arguing with Naofumi that divine blessings counted as "natural athletic ability."
Megumin was demanding someone let her use Explosion "just once."
Darkness had somehow volunteered to be the goalkeeper despite diving away from every shot.
Subaru let out a small laugh.
"...Yep. Definitely the same school."
As they approached the sidelines, Minerva glanced at him before speaking through their mental link. 'Remember. No Authorities. Outside of Kazuma, Tanya, Ainz, and me, nobody knows you've taken over this Subaru's body.'
Subaru answered mentally. 'Yeah, I know. No Invisible Providence. No White Whale Aura. No Fool Pathway abilities. Just normal Subaru.'
Minerva: 'Good. Also... don't accidentally reveal the witches living in your soul.'
Subaru: 'I wasn't planning to.'
Minerva: 'And no talking about future events.'
Subaru: 'Got it.'
Minerva: 'And absolutely no mentioning Return by Death.'
Subaru: '...You really don't trust me, do you?'
Minerva gave him a completely flat look.
'Subaru... I've known you long enough to make a list.'
Subaru laughed awkwardly.
'Fair enough.'
They reached the edge of the field.
Before Subaru could say a word—
"SUBARU!"
Chibi Emilia waved enthusiastically from the middle of the field.
"There you are! We need one more player!"
Subaru instinctively smiled.
"Coming!"
He started jogging onto the field.
Minerva folded her arms with a sigh.
"He's going to forget at least one of those rules..."
A few meters away, Kazuma watched the scene unfold.
"...How much do you want to bet he accidentally says something that shouldn't exist in this world?"
Tanya didn't even hesitate.
"Five minutes."
Ainz looked at the two of them before quietly correcting them.
"...Three."
Subaru stepped onto the field just as the ball rolled to a stop in front of him.
Everyone paused.
For a brief moment, the entire field went silent.
Then—
"Pass it!" Kazuma shouted from the sidelines.
Subaru shrugged.
"Sure."
Instead of showing off, he gave the ball a perfectly ordinary pass to Chibi Emilia.
Emilia smiled brightly.
"Thanks, Subaru!"
She dribbled forward before Chibi Rem cleanly stole the ball.
"Lady Emilia, I'm sorry!"
"It's just a game, Rem!"
The match resumed.
Subaru jogged alongside the others, deliberately moving like an average high-school student.
No Yang Travel.
No Light Travel.
No Invisible Providence.
No Authorities.
Just football.
From the sidelines, Tanya blinked.
"...He's actually listening."
Kazuma looked almost disappointed.
"I was expecting at least one reality-breaking incident."
Ainz nodded.
"So was I."
Minerva smiled proudly.
"I told you he could behave."
On the field...
The ball bounced toward Subaru again.
He trapped it with his foot.
"Nice!" Reinhard called.
Subaru looked up.
Three defenders immediately rushed him.
"...Seriously?"
He sidestepped one.
Passed between another.
Then accidentally performed a perfect roulette spin around the third.
Everyone froze.
Kazuma slowly pointed.
"...That wasn't an Authority."
Subaru scratched his cheek.
"...No."
Tanya narrowed her eyes.
"It wasn't magic either."
Subaru nodded.
"Nope."
Ainz's glowing eyes flickered.
"...Just skill?"
Subaru smiled sheepishly.
"I've had... a lot of practice dodging things that wanted to kill me."
There was a collective silence.
Kazuma sighed.
"...You know, when you put it like that, it's actually kind of depressing."
Subaru laughed.
"Yeah... it is."
He gave the ball a clean pass to Emilia.
She kicked it toward the goal.
Darkness, the goalkeeper, dramatically leaped...
...in completely the wrong direction.
The ball rolled gently into the net.
GOAL!
Emilia cheered.
"We scored!"
Darkness, lying face-down several meters away, sighed happily.
"I failed to protect the goal... how shameful..."
Kazuma covered his face.
"Why... why is she our goalkeeper?"
From the sidelines, Minerva couldn't help laughing.
"...Okay, maybe coming here wasn't such a bad idea after all."
For just a little while...
There were no Witch Cults.
No Sin Archbishops.
No Sanctuary.
No Return by Death.
Just a group of people from different worlds, laughing together over an absurd game of football.
The match continued.
Subaru intercepted another pass.
"Left!"
Emilia passed him the ball.
Subaru smiled.
"Nice one!"
He dribbled around Kazuma.
Kazuma shouted, "Hey! Stop being athletic! That's cheating!"
"I've literally fought people trying to kill me!"
"THAT DOESN'T HELP!"
Laughter spread across the field.
Then...
The ball bounced high into the air.
It was heading straight for Chibi Beatrice.
Subaru reacted on pure instinct.
Without thinking—
"Invisible Providence!"
An enormous invisible hand shot into the air.
WHAM!
It spiked the football halfway across the school grounds.
...
...
...
The entire field froze.
Silence.
A leaf drifted by.
Subaru slowly blinked.
"..."
"...Oops."
Kazuma's face lost all color.
"I... told... you..."
Tanya slowly turned toward him.
"You had one rule."
Ainz sighed.
"...One."
Minerva closed her eyes.
"...Subaru."
Subaru laughed nervously.
"In my defense..."
Everyone stared at him.
"...Muscle memory?"
Minerva smiled.
It was the kind of smile that made even Ainz instinctively take a step back.
"Oh..."
She cracked her knuckles.
"So..."
Another crack.
"...you forgot..."
One more crack.
"...the only rule."
Subaru immediately backed away.
"Minerva... let's talk about this."
"No."
"I apologized!"
"No."
"I said 'Oops!'"
"No."
"I'll buy you cake?"
"..."
"..."
"...Still no."
She disappeared.
BOOM!!
Her fist landed squarely on Subaru's forehead.
"GYAAAAAH!"
The instant the punch connected—
A warm green light burst from Subaru.
Every scrape, bruise, and old injury on his body vanished instantly.
At exactly the same moment—
RUMBLE!!
The entire school shook.
Windows rattled.
Trees bent.
The football goal fell over.
A flock of birds exploded into the sky.
Inside the classroom, the teacher calmly looked up from the lesson.
"...Earthquake again."
The class collectively sighed.
"Again?"
Outside...
Subaru lay face-down in the dirt.
"...Worth it."
Minerva folded her arms.
"No, it wasn't."
Kazuma pointed dramatically.
"SEE?! THIS IS WHY WE DON'T LET YOU PEOPLE USE YOUR POWERS!"
Ainz looked around at the shaking campus.
"...To be fair..."
"...the Authority wasn't the problem."
Everyone looked at him.
Ainz pointed toward Minerva.
"The earthquake was."
Minerva blinked.
"...Oh."
She looked at the giant crater beneath her feet.
"...Oops."
Kazuma immediately pointed at her.
"YOU DON'T GET TO SAY 'OOPS' TOO!"
Even Tanya couldn't hold it anymore.
She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"...I've somehow ended up in a world where healing people causes seismic activity."
Subaru, still lying on the ground, raised a thumb.
"...Welcome... to... my... life..."
The bell rang.
As if nothing had happened.
Everyone just stared at the destroyed football field.
Then Roswaal's voice echoed from the school building.
"Recess is over! Pleeease report to your next class!"
Kazuma looked at the crater.
Looked at Subaru.
Looked at Minerva.
"...I'm not even going to question school repair costs anymore."
The rooftop was quiet.
Lunch had ended, and most of the students had gone back to chatting or relaxing before afternoon classes.
Subaru, Minerva, Kazuma, Tanya, and Ainz sat together as the breeze rolled across the roof.
Ainz looked toward Subaru.
"...How weak are you in this body?"
Before Subaru could answer, Minerva spoke first.
"Very."
She folded her arms.
"This Subaru doesn't have his Authorities, his mana capacity, his Divine Blessings, his physical training, or even the years of combat experience his real body has."
Subaru looked down at his own small chibi hands, opening and closing them.
"...It's like my Authorities are running on one percent battery..."
He paused.
"...Scratch that."
He gave a wry smile.
"They're on life support."
Kazuma blinked.
"So... how much weaker are we talking?"
Subaru thought for a moment.
"If my real body is one hundred..."
He held up a finger.
"This body's probably... one."
"...Maybe two if I really push it."
Tanya frowned.
"So the Invisible Providence earlier..."
"...was one percent."
Subaru nodded.
"Yep."
Ainz's red lights flickered.
"...That hand was one percent?"
Subaru scratched his cheek.
"Normally it can level buildings."
There was complete silence.
Kazuma slowly turned toward Minerva.
"...How is he not considered a world-ending threat?"
Minerva answered without missing a beat.
"Because he's nice."
Kazuma stared.
"...That's it?"
"That's it."
Tanya sighed.
"...I don't know whether that's reassuring or terrifying."
Subaru laughed awkwardly.
"I mean... she's not wrong."
Ainz leaned back against the railing.
"So your Authorities have crossed over... but only a fraction."
"Not just the Authorities," Subaru explained. "Everything is limited. My mana pool feels tiny, my physical strength is practically normal, and even my senses are dulled."
He looked out over the school grounds.
"If I tried Light Travel here..."
He thought for a second.
"...I'd probably move about as fast as a decent athlete."
Kazuma burst out laughing.
"So your legendary teleportation became... jogging?"
"...Pretty much."
Even Tanya let out a small chuckle.
"For the first time since meeting you... you sound almost balanced."
Subaru sighed dramatically.
"I miss being overpowered."
Minerva immediately smacked him lightly on the back of the head.
"Don't say things that make normal people hate you."
Subaru rubbed the spot she hit.
"...Ow."
Kazuma pointed at him.
"See? That hurt! Congratulations, you're finally experiencing what the rest of us call 'being average.'"
Subaru looked genuinely horrified.
"...This is awful."
Ainz nodded solemnly.
"Welcome to mortality."
Kazuma couldn't hold it together anymore.
He doubled over laughing.
"I can't believe the guy who terrifies Sin Archbishops is having an existential crisis because he has to run instead of teleport!"
Minerva clapped her hands together.
"Anyway, we should head back."
Subaru nodded.
"Yeah. Emilia's Trial is tomorrow in my world. I shouldn't stay here any longer."
Kazuma scratched the back of his head.
"You're just... leaving?"
Subaru smiled.
"Pretty much."
He looked around the rooftop one last time.
"I've got enough information, and my digestion is still progressing. Besides..."
He shrugged.
"...my real body is probably waking up soon."
Minerva floated a few inches off the ground as golden ripples spread beneath her feet.
"The connection is weakening."
Subaru took one last look at everyone.
"See you around."
Ainz gave a respectful nod.
"Until we meet again."
Tanya adjusted her cap.
"Hopefully under less confusing circumstances."
Kazuma sighed.
"Knowing you? I doubt it."
Subaru laughed.
"Fair point."
His body suddenly shimmered.
Like a reflection on water, it began to blur.
A faint transparent silhouette stepped out from the chibi Subaru's body.
For the first time, Ainz, Kazuma, and Tanya saw it clearly.
The Subaru they'd been talking to...
...and the Subaru whose body he'd been borrowing...
...were completely separate.
The translucent Subaru stretched his arms.
"That feels weird every time."
Minerva smiled.
"It always does."
She looked back at the three of them and gave a small wave.
"Bye. We're heading back to the Dream Layer."
A doorway of shimmering light opened behind them.
Subaru walked through first.
Minerva followed.
The portal quietly closed...
...and the rooftop became silent once more.
A few seconds later—
The chibi Subaru blinked.
"Huh?"
He looked around in confusion.
"...Why am I on the roof?"
He scratched his head.
"I thought I was walking to lunch..."
He shrugged.
"...Must've zoned out."
Still completely unaware of what had happened, he wandered back toward the stairs.
The door closed behind him.
Silence returned.
Kazuma let out a long sigh.
"...One day..."
He looked at the staircase where Subaru had disappeared.
"...we're going to have to explain all of this to him."
Tanya gave him a flat look.
"And how exactly do you plan on explaining, 'By the way, another version of you from a different timeline borrowed your body for an afternoon, talked about eldritch pathways, brought an ancient witch to school, accidentally used an invisible giant hand during football, and then left'?"
Kazuma opened his mouth...
"..."
"...You know what?"
"I'll let Ainz handle it."
Ainz immediately shook his head.
"Absolutely not."
The three of them stood there in silence.
Finally, Kazuma sighed one last time.
"...This is Future Kazuma's problem."
Tanya nodded.
"A sensible decision."
Ainz quietly added,
"...Assuming there is a future Kazuma after everything we've witnessed."
Back in the Dream Layer...
Subaru slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt was something soft beneath his head.
He blinked.
"...Huh?"
Looking up, he found himself staring at Echidna.
She smiled gently, her silver-white hair swaying in the evening breeze.
"Almost in time."
Subaru blinked again before realizing where he was resting.
"...I'm on your lap."
Echidna giggled.
"Indeed. You looked rather comfortable, so I saw no reason to wake you."
Subaru glanced away, scratching his cheek.
"...I guess I fell asleep."
"You did."
He looked up at the sky.
Unlike the Hanging Garden, the Dream Layer actually had a passing sky.
The orange glow of sunset painted the clouds gold and crimson.
Evening.
His real body was preparing to wake.
"So that's why..."
Echidna nodded.
"The connection to your body is returning."
Subaru slowly sat up.
"Thanks."
"My pleasure."
He stretched before activating his System.
A familiar chime echoed.
Ding!
[Sin System
Name: Natsuki Subaru
Pathway: Fool
Current Sequence: 8 — Clown
Potion Digestion: 80%
Authorities
Sloth — Available (Suppressed in Dream Layer)
Wrath — Available
Gluttony — Available
Greed — Available
Lust — Available
Pride — Available
Envy — Available
Mental Stability: Excellent
Synchronization with Soul: Stable
Cards of Disorder Project: Locked until Sequence 8 is fully digested.]
Subaru let out a slow breath.
"Eighty percent..."
He smiled.
"Only twenty percent left."
Echidna folded her hands on her lap.
"Your digestion accelerated while you were in the Isekai Quartet world."
Subaru raised an eyebrow.
"It did?"
She nodded.
"The Fool Pathway values experience, adaptation, deception, and acting."
A playful smile crossed her face.
"You spent the entire day pretending to be another version of yourself."
Subaru froze.
"..."
"...That..."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"...Actually makes a lot of sense."
Echidna laughed softly.
"You weren't merely pretending to be someone else."
"You became another Subaru."
"The acting method rewarded you."
Subaru stared at the status screen for a moment before laughing.
"So... playing myself..."
"...as someone else's version of me..."
"...counts as acting?"
Echidna covered her mouth as she chuckled.
"The Fool Pathway has always appreciated irony."
Subaru sighed with a grin.
"...That's simultaneously the dumbest and smartest thing I've ever heard."
Just then—
Ding!
[New Insight Acquired
The Fool Pathway favors adaptation, performance, deception, and the acceptance of multiple identities. Continue embodying different roles to improve digestion efficiency.]
Subaru smiled.
"I've got a feeling..."
He dismissed the screen.
"...things are about to get a lot more complicated."
To be continue
Hope people like this Ch and Give me power stones and enjoy and I wanna do a rewrite from Ch 2 I don't like how I am written this fic anymore